Section III bowling: Long places 4th at individual tourney

FULTON -- Camden's A.J. Welch already had his ticket punched for the state bowling championships thanks to his finish as the top bowler during the Tri-Valley League season.

So when bowling began at the inaugural Section III Individual Bowling Tournament at Lakeview Lanes, Vernon-Verona-Sherrill's seven boys - and one Chittenango and one VVS girl in that tourney - were vying for the two slots allotted to the top 25 who qualified.

From the start of the boys tourney, Oswego's Cameron Byrne had the inside track for one of the spots. Rolling a 300 game to start a tourney will do that for a bowler. But Byrne followed it with a 165 and a handful of boys jockeyed for position, including four from VVS and Proctor's Ben Loughlin.

VVS' Brad Long had the best start for his team with a 236 and he followed it with games of 237 and 225. Collin Laguzza and Brendan Thomas started with three games above 200 and Nathan Desnoyers had four. Fifty pins separated those Red Devils from each other with two games to go.

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Long had a 219 in the fifth game to remain tops for coach Dave Hyle's team, though Desnoyers had a 233 to gain ground while Laguzza struggled to a 170. Loughlin, meanwhile, had his fifth straight solid game and Byrne was back on track, so a strong finish was key for all in the hunt.

Loughlin closed better than everyone and it paid off in a championship. The sophomore wound up with a 1,353 total and did not have a game below 208, which was his last game. Byrne took the second spot by three pins with a 1,313 to Rome Free Academy's Tom Hluska.

Long had a 190 in the last game and settled for fourth at 1,302.

Desnoyers was sixth with 1,232, Thomas was eighth with 1,200, Laguzza was 11th with 1,186 and Neverette was 16th with 1,057.

"It's a good learning experience for us," Hyle said after the disappointing ending for a team that went 15-0. "They're gamers. They'll bounce back. We'll hope for better Saturday."

In the girls tourney, Chittenango's Casey Smith grabbed the lead after the first game with a 233 but slipped to fourth after rolling scores of 177, 154 and 183. She was just 37 pins behind the second best score at that time and in position to still make the state tourney. But she couldn't make up enough ground at the end and, like Long, settled for fourth place.

Smith rolled an 1,136. Whitesboro's Emily Porter won with a 1,232 and Baldwinsville's Annie Peterson grabbed the last spot with an 1,168. New Hartford's Heather Badger was third with 1,140.

VVS' Ashley Salisbury wound up 15th with 851.

The team tourney is Saturday at Mattydale's Strike N' Spare Lanes. It starts at 9:00 a.m. with three games, then there's a lunch break and the final three games start around noon. The VVS boys are the defending champion, though Oswego may now be the team to beat by a narrow margin.